English

dForm is the name of the digital fabrications lab at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. Our facilities are located in the Medialab on the ground floor next to the reception, and are well equipped with 3D printers, 3D scanners and a laser cutter/engraver. We serve students and staff of the academy and generally don’t accept external commissions.

Opening hours are weekdays from 09:00 to 16:00. The technical manager is Trond Mikkelsen who can be contacted by e-mail or phone +47 909 64 386.

dForm is primarily a service lab where students and staff can request assistance in completing a project utilizing digital fabrication techniques. We prefer to be involved at an early stage of a project to give guidance regarding modelling considerations, file formats, software, file preparation and which technology/materials to use. Feel free to contact us for an introduction to digital fabrication and to learn how to get started with this technology.

We do not teach students to operate our 3D printers or the high precision 3D scanner, but we give courses on laser cutting/engraving every two weeks for a maximum of 2 students per course. Students who take this course get direct access to the lab during opening hours and may use the laser on their own. To sign up for a course get in touch by e-mail. We also teach the use of our Asus Xtion 3D scanners and photogrammetry.

Equipment:

We currently have 3 different 3D printers, 3 scanner technologies and 1 laser cutter/engraver.

Our printers are an Objet Connex 500 (multi-material), a 3D Systems/ZCorp ZPrinter 650 (full colour) and a Stratasys Dimension uPrint FDM machine. Students/staff are required to deliver print-ready files in the appropriate format (ply/vrml for colour prints and stl for everything else) which is then processed and printed by our staff. If you want to know more about the different technologies and materials please contact us for an introduction. Students/staff pay for used materials only – prices vary depending on choice of material and technology and an estimate is provided on file delivery.

Our scanners are a ZCorp ZScan 700 handheld laser scanner and 2 Asus Xtion Pro Live sensors. The ZScanner is an advanced system which produce high resolution measurable meshes, and is operated by our staff on request. Our Asus sensors can be borrowed and used by students/staff on their own. We also provide guidance on the use of photogrammetry solutions like Autodesk 123DCatch and ReCap, as well as Agisoft Photoscan which in many cases can produce satisfactory results and also be used in conditions and locations where laserscanning is not an option. These are simple to use solutions which can be used by students themselves with very little training. Students do not pay for 3D scanning.

We also operate a GCC Laserpro Spirit GX with a 75 watt laser and working area of 96×61 cm. Students bring their own materials and do not pay for the use of the laser. We can assist in procuring the proper materials on request.